The Brief: Ice Cream and a Mug Shot for Perry

The Big Conversation

Call it the frozen custard heard round the world.

Gov. Rick Perry and his booking on two felony counts late Tuesday afternoon captured national attention — on social media, most of all. A screenshot of a TweetDeck captured the frenzy that followed the release of Perry's mug shot with his, yes, defiant visage everywhere like the front of some demented slot machine.

Perry planned carefully for this one, from his supporters arriving to rally for him to the surreal touch of going out for a frozen custard, of all things, with his legal team after their business was done at the courthouse.

Meanwhile, grand jurors talked to reporters from the Austin American-Statesman and the Houston Chronicle to refute Perry's assertion they were politically motivated in their deliberations. Juror Scott Hillman told the Chronicle's Brian M. Rosenthal and Patrick Svitekthat Perry was "disrespectful."

"I see him laugh at these charges, and I think he's laughing at the process, and he's laughing at the grand jurors," Hillman said, as reported by the Chronicle. "We took our role very, very seriously."

Much will depend on how quickly Perry’s case proceeds. The governor has said he will push for a quick resolution, but Richardson must first confer with Perry’s lawyers and with Michael McCrum, the special prosecutor, to begin working out a schedule.

But even if the case lingers and Richardson joins the state’s highest criminal court, the judge could sit by assignment on Perry’s case — if he wants to continue.

• The full program has been announced for the 2014 Texas Tribune Festival, which runs from Sept. 19-21 at the University of Texas at Austin. Featuring 10 tracks, 44 sessions and over 200 speakers, this weekend is not to be missed!